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Thousands of Mariupol residents forced to relocate to Russia, claims city council

Thousands of Mariupol residents forced to relocate to Russia, claims city council

Numerous Mariupol residents seem to have been forced to relocate to Russia (representative image).

Disclaimer: A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on the Ukraine-Russia conflict on the ground and online. While WION takes utmost care to accurately report this developing news story, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.

The invading soldiers seem to have been forcing several thousands of Mariupol residents to be relocated to Russia, claimed city council.

In a statement, the council said, "The occupiers are forcing people to leave Ukraine for Russian territory. The occupiers illegally took people out of the Levoberezhny district and a shelter in the building of a sports club, where more than a thousand people (mostly women and children) were hiding from constant bombing.”

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A total of 6,623 people has been evacuated from different cities, said Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk. It includes 4,128 people from Mariupol, who have been taken northwest to Zaporizhzhia.

On Saturday, the evacuations from besieged cities of Ukraine were carried out along eight of 10 humanitarian corridors.

As Russian forces advanced into Mariupol, a major steel plant was closed.The fall of Mariupolmay mark a major advance for the Russians in the battlefield.

Also Read:Ukraine-Russia conflict: Time for meaningful talks, says President Volodymyr Zelensky

The local authorities of the city also asked for more help from Western nations.

In a video addressed to Western leaders, Mariupol police officer Michail Vershnin, said, “"Children, elderly people are dying. The city is destroyed and it is wiped off the face of the earth."

(With inputs from agencies)